The Irish standard., 1887-12-10
The BEAUTIFUL SNOW.

@5 In the early part of the war. one dark, Satur-
day morning in the dead of winter, there died
at the Commercial Hospital Cincinnati, q
young woman over whose head only two-and-
twenty summers had passed. She had once
been possessed of an enyabe share Of beauty;
had been, as she herself said s'f1atterea and
sought for the charms Of ber face:'' but. alas !!
upon her fair brow had long been writ en- that
pitiable word-Unfortunate Once the pride
OF respectable parentstge, her first wrong step
was the small beginning of "the same Old story
over again,'' which has been the only life
history Of thou> ands. Highly educated and
accnmrIished in manners, She might have
shone IN the best Of society. Ellt the evil hour
thar proved her ruin was but the door from
chidhood: and having spen. Il young life in
disgrace and shame. the poor friendless one
died the melancholy death of an Outcsst.
Among her personal effects was found, in
manuscript, THE Beautiful Snow which was
immediately carried to Enos e. Reed, gentle
man Of culture and literary tastes, who was at
that time editor Of the National Cn:on. In the
columns Of tha, paper, OF the morning follow
ing tbe girls death the poem appeared in print
forthe hrst time. When the paper containing
the poem came out on Sunday morning the
body Of the victim had not yet received burial.
The attention OF Thomas Buchanan Reed, one
Of the first American poets, was soon directed
to thE, newly published lines. who was SO taken
with their stirring pathos, that he Immediately
followed The corpse to it's final resting place.
Such are the ploib facts concerning her whose
"Bcautifui Snow will long be regarded as one
of the brig tasr gems in American literature ::
Jy,a f,,] S,1DSr
filling the sky and earth below,
Over the honsetors, over sne street,
Over he heads Of I ne people you meets
Dancing. .tiriiIg-sk niring along.
Beautiful SNOW, IT can Go no wrong:
Flying 4, k,se 81 fair lady IS check.
Crciug to lips in fyoicsomc freak;
Beautiful snow from heaven above,
Pure rs SC angel, gentle aa love
Oh! the snow, the beautiful s!.O.g,
Il,w the flakes guthernnd laugti us they go
Nhirijng about in nlaiit'eDirEInn;
Ehasing-~lAughing g by
X Iiuhts OF, the face, ard j, srarkles the eye;
And the d rs with bark md Il bound
Snap ct the cryerals rs they eddy round;
The town is alive and its hesrt n q glow,
TO WELCOME !he coming Of beautiful Snow.
How wild ti,e crowd goes swaviDg along,
Hailng each ether with humor ard song;
Row the puy s!cighs like met, ;rs flash by,
Bright for Il moment, then lost to the eye;
Ringing swinging -das!,ing they 60,
Over tho ernst OF the henatiful s1'ow:
10 he r1.npled and tracked by thousands of
feet
TIL it blends with the atn III the horrible
etreet
Once was pure as the snow but fell
Fell like tae sncwtlakes, from heaven to he'll,
Teli to be ,raurlcd as filth on the street,
Felt 70 be- scoffed, to- be SPIT or and beat;
Pleading, cursiny. dreaGing to Gle.
Selling my soul To whoever would buy;
Dealing in shame iora n0rsel CT bread
Hating the living and fearing the dead
Nfercit,i God. have fallen Sc. low?
And vel #at once like The beautiful snow
Once was fair a, The beautiful snow:
With an eye Ikea crystal, Il heart like its glow:
Once was loved TOR my innocent GRACE
Fiatterct: and sought Tor The charms of my
FHtG*arS---rnOth crs--sjet@rS--l All.
God and myself have lost by my fail:
The vcriesL wretch that goes shive,'in. by
VIII make wide sweep lest J. wander TOO nigh,
Fer al that is on or above rne, know,
There is nothing SO pu, c as the beautiful snow
uov strange il should be that this beautiful
snow
Should fall on sinner with nowhere 10 go!
Eoy strarge j! should be when the night comes
again,
If ;ha SNOW and the ice struck my desperate
brain.
Painting ~freezing.-dyirg u1one
Tco wicked fer prayer. TOO weak Tor moan.
To be heard in the streets OF tue crazy town,
Gone mad in the Joy OF snow coming down;
TO be and to die in my terrible wee,
With s. bed and shroud of tht; beautiful snow.
HeInl SIS and foil as the trampled snow.
Sinner, despair not! Christ stoopeih low
TO rescue thu, soul that is lost III sin,
And raise it to lifeand enjoyment again.
dine-dying for thee
The Clucitied hung on the cursed tree!
His accents cf mercy fell soft on thine ear,
s.Is yherc mercy formei Will he hee d ny weak
prayer?'
O i3odl in the stream that for sinners did flow,
Wash me, and shah be whittier than snow.